Lenovo and Ashton Kutcher are about to Punk the smartphone industry

Playing iPhone creator Steve Jobs in a film doesn't qualify you to design actual smartphones yourself, but don't tell that to Ashton Kutcher and Lenovo.

The actor who "Punk'd" people in the early oughts teamed up with the tech company in 2013, and now he's helping it design a line of smartphones that will come out later in 2014, Lenovo has announced.

Lenovo Chief Marketing Officer David Roman dropped this unlikely news on Re/code, telling the site that Kutcher is actually the real deal.

"I know on one level, it sounds corny, but it is real," Roman said. "He not only sees himself as an engineer, but he is an engineer. If he sees a problem, he wants to solve it."

If you say so

Kutcher signed on as a product engineer with Lenovo in 2013, appearing in ads and helping the company develop and promote its Yoga Tablet line.

When it comes to the new Lenovo phones Kutcher will have a heavy hand in designing the user experience, Roman said.

The actor who played Kelso on That '70s Show may not have any design credentials, but in fact he has been involved in the tech world for a number of years, having invested in start-ups like Foursquare, Airbnb and Uber and co-founder the venture capital group A-Grade.

He even gave a rousing speech about social media and tech investments at CTIA 2013.

Does that mean he can help design a decent smartphone to follow up Lenovo's Vibe Z? For that we'll just have to wait and see.